Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Questions about SNMP, Power, System, Logs, disk, & RAID.
Post Reply
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

Not sure if I overlooked instructions/answers on following topic in one of the existing threats - but I did not find answer to this simple question.

Prereqs: I run RIAD5 on my TS419P 4-bay system. I've added two 4TB disk to my initial two 3TB disks installation some time ago and migrated to RIAD5. All works fine. Those two 4TB are, of course, utilised as 3TB disks only.

Recently, one of the 3TB disks failed and I replaced it with 4TB disk. It all keeps running well. Also this 3rd 4TB disk is utilised again just as a 3TB disk.
All disks I use are listed on the QNAP disk compatibility list.

Now the question: if I replace the last 3TB disk by a 4TB disk - this means, all disks are 4TB, will my RIAD5 automatically reconfigure to use all disks at their full 4TB capacity?
If not, what do I need to do to make my system to start to utilise fully the 4TB capacity of those 4TB disks?

Probably a very basic question. Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

P.S.: I know that my system is rather old, no need to waste time on reminding me ;-)
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 35024
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by dolbyman »

On these old CAT1 devices you have to go through the one by one process (pull and replace each drive with the manual described process) only then can you expand the raid .. so check the manual

the existing 4TB drives can be swapped in place

- pull
- externally wipe (e.g. diskpart clean)
- reinsert and sync back
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

Hey dolbyman, great to hear from someone, who obviously understands the magic here. Thank you for your effort. Just to re-assure I got you right. The process to follow is:
1: replace the last remaining 3TB disk by a new 4TB disk. (I guess, my system will use it as a 3TB disk again - right/wrong?)
2: pull one by one by the other/existing 4TB disks out, diskpart clean each of them before re-inserting them back.
At what point of time, the system will start to use the full capacity of those 4TB disks then?
Can I achieve the expansion while keeping the data on the existing system under existing RIAD5?
Or are you suggesting, I got to rebuild the system from scratch?
Last edited by pavelh on Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 35024
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by dolbyman »

the last disk should already be swapped with the process (there is a dialog box)

then the rest is done as you said (via the dialog)...just a couple weeks ago I upgraded the disks in my 419p+ like that
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

Can I achieve the expansion while keeping the data on the existing system under existing RIAD5?
Or are you suggesting, I got to rebuild the system from scratch?
Great to hear you got some recent hands-on experience on nearly the same box.
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 35024
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by dolbyman »

nope..data stays intact ..if all drives work flawlessly for several rebuilds and the expand ..if anything goes bad, all your data is gone

thats why external backups are a MUST at all times
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

Understood for the backup - yes, critical every time.

One point is not clear to me: what dialog do you refer to? (there is a dialog box) ... (via the dialog) ???
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 35024
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by dolbyman »

See the manual here about the "expand capacity" dialog

https://docs.qnap.com/nas-outdated/4.2. ... yexpansion

So you would start with the last smaller disk in your RAID and then work your way to "replace" the remaining disks as well
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

This is wonderful! Thank you so much, this describes exactly my demand!
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

dolbyman wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 12:41 am See the manual here about the "expand capacity" dialog

https://docs.qnap.com/nas-outdated/4.2. ... yexpansion

So you would start with the last smaller disk in your RAID and then work your way to "replace" the remaining disks as well
Worked fine, successfully expanded to max. capacity. Thank you dolbyman for the link and your help!

Just to summarise what I really did:
a/ selected the last 3TB disk in the menu ("Storage Manager" > "RAID Management", click "Action" > "Migrate", selected the disk and "Migrate")
b/ pulled it out, after 2 beep inserted a new 4TB disk in that slot
c/ once sync. finished (took several hours), clicked on Expand capacity (took several hours to finish too!)
Thank's it- easy, straight forward, no need to reinsert the previously installed 4TB disks.
Now I enjoy 11TB of RIAD5 capacity.
max_well
Starting out
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:46 am

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by max_well »

@pavelh

waaaaaaaaait a moment :)

Are you saying that:
- over time, whenever your 3TB disks degraded, you just replaced them with 4TB disks but still only 3TB were utilized
- _before_ you had to replace your last 3TB disk...
- ...you initiated the "Replace Disks one by one" (found this via https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial ... ty-upgrade )
- but effectively only selected the last one you had not yet replaced
- and this was enough for the system to realize that all disks are now 4TB and you were ready to expand online

?

Assumption: RAID 5 storage pool
pavelh
Starting out
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:57 am
Location: BN, Austria

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by pavelh »

- over time, whenever your 3TB disks degraded, you just replaced them with 4TB disks but still only 3TB were utilized
yes, exactly
- _before_ you had to replace your last 3TB disk...
- ...you initiated the "Replace Disks one by one" (found this via https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial ... ty-upgrade )
well, I followed this process https://docs.qnap.com/nas-outdated/4.2. ... gement.htm
(your links points to a different one)
Chapter: Expanding Capacity (Online RAID Capacity Expansion):
In "Storage Manager" > "RAID Management", select the disk volume for expansion and click "Action" > "Expand Capacity".
Click "Change" for the first hard drive to be replaced. {-- I've chosen the last 3TB disk}
then pulled out the bay, replaced the disk by a fresh new 4TB
this initiated several hours long rebuilding process
once competed, I logged back to my system, followed again:
"Storage Manager" > "RAID Management", select the disk volume for expansion and click "Action" > "Expand Capacity"
and on the next panel I directly selected "Expand Capacity"
and than waited several hours again till rebuilding has been completed.
- but effectively only selected the last one you had not yet replaced
yes, exactly
- and this was enough for the system to realize that all disks are now 4TB and you were ready to expand online
yes, obviously this was enough for the system to expand the capacity.

For me it worked this way well, with no troubles and got effectively 11TB under RIAD5.

Rebooted afterwards to see if all works well, did Firmware upgrade, and all keeps on working fine.
max_well
Starting out
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:46 am

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by max_well »

Super, danke :D
User avatar
dolbyman
Guru
Posts: 35024
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:11 am
Location: Vancouver BC , Canada

Re: Migrating to larger disks (RIAD5)

Post by dolbyman »

A 419p (legacy) has a different process than HAL units with storage pools .. hence not comparable
Post Reply

Return to “System & Disk Volume Management”